Steve McCormack's National 3 North Weekly Preview for April 19th 2008

Champions Tynedale finish the season with a home fixture over third placed Fylde who still have a chance of making the play offs but they have to win here and Darlington Mowden Park need to lose at relegation threatened Morley.

Tynedale are 16 matches unbeaten with 15 wins and a draw in that run which has helped the move 29 points clear of second placed Darlington Mowden Park.

They easily have the best defensive record but have scored one point less than their North East rivals DMP.

At home they have won all 12 matches to date and just given up just two losing bonus points.

Fylde are one of the Form sides in the division on the back of six straight wins to put pressure on Darlington Mowden Park and are unbeaten in their last eight.   

Ironically their last defeat was at home when beaten by Darlington Mowden Park34-27 at the end of January.

On the road they have a great recent record with four straight wins and eight wins in their last nine.    

Tynedale were 25-7 winners at Woodlands earlier in the season when the sides met.   

Second placed Darlington Mowden park travel to third bottom Morley who are fighting for their National League status and need to beat DMP to have a chance of escaping the drop. 

Morley are in a must win situation as they look to overhaul Macclesfield who they trail by three points.

They have three wins and a draw in their last six matches and have a fighting chance it they can get a result here.

At home they have a three match unbeaten run and three wins and a draw in their last five matches. Overall at home this season they have seven wins and a draw and just four defeats.   

Mowden Park just need to win to guarantee a play off place and a trip down to Cinderford next Saturday. They could even lose and as long as they picked up a bonus point it would need Fylde to take all five points off Tynedale.  

They returned to winning ways last week at home to Rugby Lions as they got the away defeat at Macclesfield out of their system and have won eight of their last nine.

On the road they have had won five on the bounce before the defeat at Macclesfield.

Darlington Mowden Park were 26-22 winners when the sides met earlier in the season.

Fourth placed Leicester Lions are away at fourth bottom Macclesfield who know a win will see them survive for another season of National League rugby.

After a four match losing run Macclesfield have come back with successive wins to climb out of the bottom three and have their destiny in their own hands with a win here guaranteeing them National League rugby for another season.

At home this season Macc have five wins and a draw to go with six defeats.

The Lions who looked odds on for the play off place six weeks ago have but went on a seven match ruin without a win, losing five and drawing twice in that period. They did return to winning ways last Saturday with a home win over West Park 55-20.

They have struggled on the road with just three wins in 12 matches suffering seven defeats and two draws.

Leicester Lions were 16-10 winners at home to Macclesfield when the sides met earlier in the season.  

Fifth placed Caldy are finishing the season well and are away at Hull Ionians knowing a win could see them finish fourth which would be a great achievement in their first season of rugby at this level.

Ionians returned to winning ways last Saturday with an away win at Harrogate and have two wins in their last six matches.

At home this season they have eight wins and four defeats and lost two of their last three at home.    

Caldy are on a six match unbeaten run and have won their last four matches since drawing 25 all with Leicester Lions.

On the road they have won four in a row since losing 25-11 at Harrogate and overall on the road this season they have six wins and six defeats.

Caldy were narrow winners at Paton Field over Hull earlier in the season 13-11.  

Sixth placed Harrogate finish the season with an away match at bottom of the table Beverley knowing they can finish no lower than sixth and could catch Caldy if they lose at Hull.

Harrogate after a five match winning run have slipped to successive defeats in matches they would have hoped to win and continue their rise up the league table, away at Morley and home to Hull.  

On the road they have five wins form 12 matches including three in their last five away days.  

Beverley are looking to end their stay in the National Leagues with a win and end an eight match losing run in which they have managed just two losing bonus points.

At home this season they have managed just one win all season a 27-20 win over Bradford & Bingley back in September.

At Claro Road earlier in the season Harrogate were 41-6 over Beverley.

Seventh placed Preston Grasshoppers are away at already relegated West Park St Helens, who can catch Macclesfield but will lose out on the most wins rule.

West Park have now lost seven matches in a row since beating Beverley at Red Rocks 17-15 back in February, and in those seven defeats she has managed just one losing bonus point.  

At home they have just four wins and a draw all season suffering seven defeats including their last three at Red Rocks.  

Hoppers have had a stop start season and have recovered after slipping down the table on the back of six defeats in seven matches mid season.

They had won three out of four before going down 37-7 to the Champions last Saturday.

On the road they have won four of their last six and having a winning record on the road with seven wins and five defeats.   

At Lightfoot Green earlier in the season Hoppers were 22-0 winners over West Park.

10^th placed Rugby Lions finish the season with a home fixture against ninth placed Bradford & Bingley at Webb Ellis Road knowing a win could take them into the top half of the table.  

Rugby Lions will be hoping to end a five match losing run and finish the season with a win with their last win back in February at home to bottom of the table Beverley.

They have relied on their home form this season with an impressive nine wins and three defeats.  

Bradford & Bingley saw their three match winning run come to an end at Wagon Lane last Saturday against relegation threatened Macclesfield. On the road they have won their last two matches and overall on the road have four wins and a draw to go with seven defeats.

The Bees were 38-25 winners at Wagon Lane earlier in the season against Rugby Lions.  

PREDICTIONS